Conspiracy Theories Flourish Over Death In Plane Crash

Conspiracy Theories Flourish Over Death In Plane Crash

It was a terrifying moment as a small commuter plane crashed into the ocean and it's all caught on video. The nine passengers scrambled to put on their life vests as the plane rapidly filled with water.

Passenger Ferdinand Puentes shot the video as he and the other passengers evacuated the plane and then swam to find pieces of floating wreckage to cling to.

The pilot could be seen bleeding from a gash in his head. The plane's tail was behind him.

The drama unfolded a half mile off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The passengers stayed calm and waited for rescue. But one 65-year-old Loretta Fuddy, drowned despite wearing a life jacket.

Fuddy was the director of the State Health Department. In 2011, she granted a waiver releasing copies of President Obama’s birth certificate, helping to silence conspiracy theorists who claimed the president was not born in the U.S. Now, her death is reigniting some of those wild conspiracy theories.

Donald Trump, who famously insinuated that President Obama was born in Kenya, tweeted: “How amazing, the state health director who verified copies of Obama’s "birth certificate" died in a plane crash today. All others lived.”

Passengers said the take-off seemed normal, and then the 10-seater Cessna Grand Caravan suddenly lost power.